Start Spreading the News: 'Butterstick' Is Sticking

By Amy Argetsinger and Roxanne RobertsSunday, February 26, 2006

Caving in to the cute lobby, the National Zoo has finally adopted Butterstick as the nickname of the famed baby panda there. In the latest issue of Zoogoer magazine, an ad for the ZooFari 2006 "Black & White Night" fundraiser on May 18 reads, "Join Tai Shan (affectionately known as 'Butterstick') . . . " and the slogan: "Everything's better with Butter."
The nickname, of course, derives from the zoo's much-quoted description of the panda at his July 9 birth -- he was the size of "a stick of butter." But it was two local bloggers, Catherine Andrews and her boyfriend, Tom Lee , who actually came up with the moniker. On Aug. 2, Andrews posted an entry on local blog collective DCist.com that she casually headlined "Butterstick's a boy!" Within days, blogger friends started actively promoting the name; within weeks, it had entered common parlance.

The Post's Katharine Graham with Truman Capote at the original Black and White Ball. Butterstick's dressed and masked, but he's not on the guest list for this year's bash. (The Washington Post Company)
'Caving in to the cute lobby, the National Zoo has finally adopted Butterstick as the nickname of the famed baby panda there. In the latest issue of Zoogoer magazine, an ad for the ZooFari 2006 "Black & White Night" fundraiser on May 18 reads, "Join Tai Shan (affectionately known as 'Butterstick') . . . "and the slogan: "Everything's better with Butter."

The nickname, of course, derives from the zoo's much-quoted description of the panda at his July 9 birth -- he was the size of "a stick of butter." But it was two local bloggers, Catherine Andrews and her boyfriend, Tom Lee, who actually came up with the moniker. On Aug. 2, Andrews posted an entry on a local blog collective DCist.com that she casually headlined "Butterstick's a boy!" Within days, blogger friends started actively promoting the name; within weeks, it had entered comon parlance.

"I thought it was cute, but I didn't think it would develop this weird cultlike following," says Andrews. (A proposal by our snarky Style colleagues to call him Parkay never seemed to catch on.) Despite a fervent write-in campaign for Butterstick, the cub was officially named Tai Shan when he turned 100 days old. But now the zoo seems to have softened.
"It's not an official acknowledgment," said zoo spokesman Peper Long . "We still call him Tai Shan. But we realize people all over the world love this little guy and probably have a variety of nicknames for him -- and this is a very popular one."

Pandamaniacs on DCist are delighted: "The zoo may not like Butterstick, but their ad agency knows a winner when they see it." (One dissenter weighed in: "I dunno. 'Everything goes better with butter' just makes me want to saute the panda.")
Using the same color scheme as ZooFari, Christie's will re-create the legendary 1966 Black and White Ball at its New York headquarters next month. The first "party of the century" was hosted by Truman Capote and honored Katharine Graham ; the guest list included Frank Sinatra and Mia Farrow , Gregory Peck , Norman Mailer , Lauren Bacall , John Steinbeck , Candice Bergen , Andy Warhol and presidential daughter Lynda Bird Johnson . Capote set the dress code: black tie for the men, black or white gowns for the women, and masks for all (even Johnson's Secret Service agents wore them).
The March 14 ball, meant to goose the next day's auction of Plaza Hotel gilded geegaws, will include Peter Duchin (who played at the 1966 event) and a few of the original party guests. Most of the invitations have gone to New Yorkers, but a few partyers with Washington roots (members of the Graham family, Karenna Gore Schiff and Deeda Blair ) are expected.
Butterstick, despite his naturally perfect ensemble, has yet to receive an invite. Shocking.